Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo

The DRT Library will be closing as of Wednesday, June 1st to prepare the collection to move in time to meet the State’s deadline to vacate our current building near the historic Alamo Shrine.

We sincerely thank you for your continuing trust and support. Please know that we will make the collection available to researchers again as soon as possible. Follows us on our website, Facebook, and/or here on our Blog for future announcements.

For more than a century, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas have volunteered their time and efforts to protect our Texas history. Now, we need your help to save the treasures we’ve preserved.

To make way for the Alamo Plaza expansion, the DRT was told it must move the 38,000 piece DRT Library Collection by July 2016. We are currently working with Texas A&M – San Antonio to relocate the collection to a building associated with the university.

But moving such an expansive collection will be an expensive undertaking.

On May 3rd, tens of thousands of folks are going to show their support for their favorite San Antonio nonprofits during The Big Give SA. Every donation you give on May 3rd will go a long way to helping us preserve and keep our historic collection in San Antonio.

In order to reach our goal of $35,000 we need your help with these three things:

Spread the word! Forward this email to your family and friends along with a personal note as to why you believe in our work, and why they should give on May 3rd.

Please save May 3rd as the date to donate to our DRT Library Collection Fund and help ensure that we are able to preserve and keep this special part of our history in San Antonio. We can’t wait to celebrate the difference your generosity will make!

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas need your support as we fight to maintain ownership of the DRT Library Collection. The DRT is now collecting donations for a Legal Defense Fund to help us cover costs as we move forward with the legal process. 100% of donations to this fund will go directly to saving the library.

Every dollar matters! You can click on link above, which will take you to our Legal Fund webpage. From there, click the yellow DONATE button to make a contribution using your credit card or PayPal account.

One of the Alamo’s most famous heroes would be 229 years old today. Colonel David Crockett was born on August 17, 1786. You can read his autobiography for free as an ebook on Google Books to find out about his early years in the back woods of Tennessee. Here at the Alamo Research Center, we like to talk about how much he loved Texas!

Masthead of the Essex Register (Salem, MA), Sept 10, 1835. This edition contains a portion of the letter that David Crockett wrote to the National Intelligencer. DRT 12 Newspaper Collection, DRT Library Collection.

Crockett was beginning to wear out his welcome during the elections of 1835. He was an excellent political stumper as well as one of the early master political propagandists. He cultivated the image of himself as a backwoods buckskin-clad Indian fighter and “Everyman.” However, his lack of results during his first three terms as well as his vehement opposition to Andrew Jackson cost him the 1835 Congressional election. In response, Crockett declared that he would be headed for Texas to participate in the rebellion there and take advantage of the possibilities afforded by the amount of land on offer. He became the best known person to join the Texas cause.

In a portion of his letter printed on the 10th of September, 1385, in the Essex Register (Salem, MA), Crockett declares “I do believe Santa Anna’s Kingdom will be a paradise, compared with this in a few years. The People are nearly ready to take the yoke of bondage…” The full letter appears in a different newspaper, the National Intelligencer. Crockett was so famous, though, that other newspapers through the United States picked up his letter and printed it. He and his unit of Tennessee Volunteers traveled to Texas over the fall and winter of 1835. They ended up at the Alamo in San Antonio and died with the rest of the defenders on the morning of March 6, 1836.

Portion of a letter written by David Crockett to the National Intelligencer, appearing in the Essex Register, Sept. 10, 1835. DRT 12 Newspaper Collection, DRT Library Collection

Mary Milby Giles was born at Vance Ranch near San Antonio on 1890 January 22. She was the daughter of famed architect Alfred Giles and Annie Laura James. An accomplished pianist, Milby was also involved in a several local organizations, including St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and the Military-Civilian Club, San Antonio Conservation Society, and King William Area Conservation Society.

Mary Ann Adams Maverick married Texas revolutionary Samuel A. Maverick in 1836 and accompanied him to San Antonio in 1838. They had ten children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Four of her sons fought in the Civil War. Mary kept diaries of her experiences on the Texas frontier, including the Runaway of ’42 and the Council House Fight. She was also a dedicated correspondent and political observer in the dozens of family letters contained in the Maverick Family Papers.

After her 1934 marriage to M.H. (Martin Harold) Pugh, May Eckles moved to Donna, Texas, where she and her husband were involved in the fruit industry. She moved back to San Antonio after her husband’s death in 1945. Begun on her sixteenth birthday, her diary was maintained without significant interruption until two days before her death at age 82.

States Capitol, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Art. In addition to her sculpting, Ney took an active role in artistic and civic activities in Austin, where she died on 1907 June 29. Four years later a number of her supporters founded the Texas Fine Arts Association in her honor.

Ellen Dorothy Schulz moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she taught science at Main Avenue High School. She soon became interested in establishing a museum in San Antonio and helped organize the acquisition of a large natural history collection, which was housed in Main Avenue High School. The collection was the nucleus of the Witte Memorial Museum, which opened in 1926 with Schulz as its director, a position she held until her retirement in 1960, while continuing to pursue her interest in botany.

The Sultanas de Bejar is a women’s organization that was formed in San Antonio, Texas, in 1948. It serves as a social auxiliary to Bejar Caravan No. 56, the local chapter of the International Order of the Alhambra. Solely social in nature, the organization’s mission is to foster fellowship among members of Bejar Caravan No. 56 and their wives and to assist in furthering the aims and objectives of the Caravan.

There are many other collections that include information about Texas women and women’s organizations. You can try our catalog, use the subject guide on our website, or search our manuscript finding aids in TARO (Texas Archival Resources Online). We’re here to help in person from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. So give us a call or send us an email to set up your research appointment today!

Samuel Weiss opened the Electric Park Company across the street from San Antonio’s oldest public park, San Pedro Springs Park. Electric Park included all manner of attractions including a carousel, a toboggan track, a Ferris Wheel, shooting gallery, pool hall, and boat rides, among other exciting activities. In the 1950s, Renwick Cary’s “Around the Plaza” feature in the San Antonio Express recounted the exploits of “The Girl in Red” from Doc Carver’s Diving Horse act (one of the traveling companies that inspired the Disney movie Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken) that performed at Electric Park for several seasons.

Electric Park fully illuminated at night! This was a trend inspired by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and later Coney Island-type theme parks. General Images Collection, DRT Library, Alamo Research Center.

The star of the Electric Park show came on after twilight fell. The theme park was fully electrified! Many of San Antonio’s children recalled summer nights at riding the circle swing and the roller coaster. The majority of electric parks would close by 1917 due to competition, increasing operating costs, and fires, but the memory of have fun at them would live on.

Beer Garden and Circle Swing during the daytime at Electric Park. General Images Collection, DRT Library Collection, Alamo Research Center.

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